Someone Cares About Johnny Cade
by unnaturalstories
Summary: When Johnny is abused by his parents again he thinks he's alone when someone unexpected comes along.


**A/N: Hello. I'm new to the Outsiders fandom. This is my first Outsiders fanfiction. I got this idea from reading one of JB-Forever's stories, can't remember which one, but they're all amazing, and she had Ponyboy show that he cares for Two-Bit which in return surprises Two-Bit. I wanted mine to be something along those lines. I really hope they are in character. ^-^ This is completely un-beta'd, but I had my best friend oNiGiRi-cHaN XD read it and tell me if she though they were in character and if this was post worthy. Obviously, it's posted, so she thought it was okay. :D Oh and by the way this is a One-shot. Okay, I'll let you read now. ^-^ Enjoy!  
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Run. That was all that was on my mind at the moment. I could hear the screams of my mother getting farther and farther away. Pain would shoot up my ankle every time I put my foot on the ground, blood ran down my face getting into my eyes, my ribs protested every movement. I was running blind. I didn't know where I was going and I didn't care. Just as long as I got away from my parents. The world tilted and spun, tinged red. Finally, I could run no more and I collapsed in the lot. At least I was still in Greaser territory. I dragged my aching body over by a tree and lied down. I tried to block out the pain. Telling myself it was just my imagination. I was almost asleep when someone called my name.

"Johnny?"

I opened my eyes squinting up at the person.

"What happened to ya?"

"My parents."

That's all I cared to say on the subject. I was kinda embarrassed about it. Kids were s'pposed to have nice parents who took care of 'em, instead of beatin' on 'em.

"C'mon I'm takin' ya to the Curtis house."

"But they're not home," I reminded him.

He shrugged. "So? It'll be easier to fix ya up there."

I couldn't help but agree with him, unfortunately, there was still one problem.

"I..uhh...I twisted my ankle," I mumbled glancing down at the swollen flesh hidden under my jeans.

"So then lean on me," he suggested extending a hand down for me to grab.

I grasped it and he pulled me up into a standing position. I hissed in pain when it pulled on my ribs.

"Shit. Sorry kid," He apologized.

We slowly hobbled to the Curtis house with me leaning heavily against him. It took us about 20 minutes when it should have taken us only 10. The door was unlocked like usual. We walked right in and he lead me towards the couch where he left to find the medical kit. A few seconds later he came back in.

"Got it."

He set it down along with a wet wash cloth. He gently grabbed my face and started to wipe the dried blood away. There was a bad gash on my cheek that started to bleed again. He got a clean part of the cloth and put some disinfectant on it, pressing it to the cut. I hissed in pain, but didn't move. Then he taped a big square of gauze onto it.

"Man. You've got a good shiner. Let me get ya some ice."

He dropped the rag and left to the kitchen quickly coming back with an old bag of peas.

"Here. Hold this against your eye."

I took the bag from him and gently pressed it against my eye. It hurt, but I knew it would help the swelling go down so I could see from it again.

He lifted up my shirt and poked all of my ribs. It hurt like hell and I tried not to show how much it pained me, but I knew I let out a few gasps here and there.

"None of 'em feel broken or cracked. I think they're just bruised pretty bad. Sorry there ain't much I can do about 'em. I could get ya some ice for 'em if ya'd like."

I shook my head. I've dealt with this before I'd be fine.

"Let me at least get you some pills."

He went to get up, but I grabbed his wrist before he could.

"Why are you doing this for me?"

"whaddaya mean?" He asked confused.

"I-I don't know. Nevermind."

I felt kinda embarrassed now.

"We're in the same gang. 'Course I would take care of ya! I care about you. Now just sit tight while I go get you some pain killers."

I just nodded releasing my hold on his wrist. He got up and left. He cared about me? It felt nice knowing someone cared about me enough to actually take care of me. I didn't know he felt that way about me. I smiled despite the pain. I was so absorbed in my thought I didn't hear him come back until he spoke.

"Here."

He handed me the stuff then grabbed a bandage out the first aid kit and wrapped my sprained ankle putting another bag of old vegetables on it.

"Alright. There ya go kid. You stay on that couch and rest. Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy should be home in a couple a hours. I gotta get to work before I'm late."

He started to walk out the door before I called him back.

"Hey Steve. Thanks."

He looked at me and nodded once before walking through the door and letting the screen door slam shut behind him.

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**A/N: Yay! You made it to the end! I applaud you reader. You, sir, are amazing. I hope you enjoyed it and it wasn't a waste of your time. **


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